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Comment by twodave | Hacker News Reader

At least as far as coffee grinders go, find a reputable company that will repair them. My Baratza Encore stopped working after about a year or two of operation, and I sent it in for repairs. It was probably just a small short somewhere, but I'm not an electrician. They sent it back to me after a week or so, cleaned inside and out and working better than new. I keep saying I'm going to replace it with the one from Fellow (the Ode), but for the past 4-5 years I've been finding other things to spend money on and the Encore just keeps going.

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Baratza publishes service and diagnostic manuals too - if you’re handy enough you can disassemble your grinder, locate the faulty component, and order a replacement from them. I replaced our grinder’s faulty motor (died after 8 years or so) and the grinder is still going strong 5 years later.

Baratza also sell replacement parts for their grinders on their web site, and provide clear instructions on how to install them. I am delighted to support a manufacturer that builds repairable products.

My friend has a Fellow grinder and I honestly can't stand it. It takes about 5 or 6 iterations to get all the grounds out. It looks sleeker, and would match all the other Fellow stuff I have, but is too frustrating to use, even if it were free.

As to your Encore, if you feel like a cheap upgrade you could replace your cone burr with the M2 from the slightly more expensive Virtuoso model. It's a drop-in replacement, however, you will have to take your grinder apart.

Thanks for the advice! I can probably handle that kind of an upgrade. I just don’t know enough about electrical to diagnose/fix those kinds of issues

Right, in this specific case the problem is that "burr coffee grinder" became widely known as an indicator of quality, which meant that cheap products proliferated to take advantage of the prestige. The high-quality products that earned that reputation still exist, you just have to find (and pay for) them.

I was also surprised that he brought up Burr grinders, I don’t think I’ve ever had even a cheap one die on me? I doubt they’ll last 80+ years but the quality seems fine.

Hand grinders are getting better and better too, so if longevity is a concern you’re in luck.

I bought four seemingly identical, cheap Cuisinart burr grinders over a period of 5 years or so. One of them happily endured heavy daily usage for several years at a workplace until it 'disappeared' during a move; I found out years later that the person who took it still had it (no hard feelings! someone told them it was company-owned and being discarded) and it was still working great. Another (a gift) was still working a decade later, last I checked. The next two I bought failed within months. Apparently they made some minor tweaks to the build that completely ruined the durability. I'm sure they sold thousands of those junk heaps on the reputation they previously built.

+1 for Baratza. I have an old Virtuoso grinder that's about 10 years old and still going strong, never had an issue.

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